Leonardo da Vinci designed a screw pump using a rotating screw mechanism to move water.
A screw pump transports liquid along the length of a rotating screw inside a casing. Leonardo studied screw-based water-lifting machinery and produced designs related to hydraulic engineering, an important field for canals, drainage, fountains, and irrigation. The rotating element pushes water upward or forward through successive spaces formed by the screw and its housing.
The underlying idea was much older than Leonardo. The Archimedes screw had been used for raising water since antiquity, and Leonardo’s work belongs to a continuing tradition of improving hydraulic machines rather than inventing the basic principle from nothing. His drawings show his characteristic interest in geometry, motion, and practical construction.
A screw pump should not be confused with Leonardo’s aerial screw, which was a flight concept. Both use a helical form, but one is intended to move water and the other was imagined as an air-lifting device. Leonardo’s hydraulic studies also included canals, water wheels, and methods for controlling flow.